Topical Conversational Sentence Game

ABSTRACT

A method of playing an electronic topical conversational sentence game, comprising generation of at least one word for each turn for each successive player; and completion of a sentence including the at least one word. The sentence is topically related to a sentence generated by a previous player.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to games; and more particularly to games in which the consecutive players build sentences including selected words and each sentence, after the first, should be topically related to its preceding sentence.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Games, by definition, are meant to be fun, challenging, entertaining, enjoyable, and a worthwhile passing of time. Certain games can also improve a variety of skills, provide for mental stimulation, enhance interaction skills, and even be educational. Not surprisingly, those games that improve interpersonal skills or useful life skills, etc. often are best loved and stand the test of time. Some timeless games improve our intellectual or cognitive skills (chess or checkers), social skills (Life), mathematics aptitude (Monopoly, Yahtzee), memory skills (Clue or Trivial Pursuit), military strategy (Stratego or Battleship), spelling or vocabulary (Scrabble), or other abilities or skills.

So-called “board games” follow a fixed format based on what is on the board, and often are targeted to specific age groups. Board games can be bulky or unwieldy to store, set up, and/or play which can make them less appealing. Their instructions may make it inconvenient to bring them to other people's homes, camping, into the classroom, to the beach, to the car, or other places where it would be enjoyable to play games and interact with others.

Electronic or computer games have revolutionized the game industry. There are computerized or electronic versions of such traditional games as chess, Monopoly, Scrabble etc. There are also entirely new computerized or electronic games with realistic themes. These electronic and computer games can also be fun and entertaining and some may even provide considerable skills or talents (e.g., Microsoft's Flight Simulator). A number of electronic and computer games can be educational, such as language programs. In this era, it would be unrealistic to consider that any game that becomes reasonably popular is going to remain only in non-electronic form for long. As such, games that have considerable potential, particularly those that are educational, should be considered in their traditional non-electronic/computer form as well as their viable electronic/computer forms.

A number of word games generally rely on creating words from letters. Scrabble and Bananagrams are two examples of such games. Such word games generally improve vocabulary and other skills, though they generally do not improve communicative, social, or sentence structure skills. One game, You've Been Sentenced, does focus on developing sentence structure and grammar skills; however, it does not improve conversational skills such as effective listening, topic identification or maintenance, or improve the ability to formulate relevant follow-up comments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention, briefly summarized above and discussed in greater detail below, can be understood by reference to the illustrative embodiments of the invention depicted in the appended drawings. The appended drawings, however, illustrate only topical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting in scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of one embodiment of a few word chips to be used in a topical conversational sentence game showing two word chips with its word side up and another word chip with its logo side up;

FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of a container configured as a canister that can be used to contain the word chips either during storage or playing;

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a container, a bag, that can be used to contain the word chips;

FIG. 4 illustrates a word list that can be printed on the word chips of the topical conversational sentence game;

FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of an electronic embodiment of the topical conversational sentence game;

FIG. 6 shows one embodiment of a flow chart involving playing the topical conversational sentence game;

FIG. 7 shows a graphical user interface (GUI) type display that may be utilized in the electronic version of the topical conversational sentence game of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 8 shows another GUI type display that may be utilized in the electronic version of the topical conversational sentence game of FIG. 5.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical or similarly functioning elements that are common to the figures. The figures may not be drawn to scale and may be simplified to clarify. It is contemplated that elements and features of one embodiment may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments without further recitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It would be desirable to provide a topical conversational sentence game that challenges its players who may include children, adults, couples, students, organizations, professionals, and others to improve their communication and interaction abilities. Initially, a number of traditional versions of the topical conversation sentence game are described; then a number of electronic versions of the game are described.

Traditional (Manual) Version of Topical Conversation Sentence Game

Certain embodiments of a topical conversational sentence game 90 as described with respect to FIG. 1 can include a plurality of word chips 100. Two embodiments of containers 300 are shown respectively in FIGS. 2 and 3 as a respective canister-type container or a bag-type container. One version of the rule sheet is described generally with respect to TABLE 1, though variations are permitted.

Different embodiments of the topical conversational sentence game 90 can be played even with the same word-sets with more or less complex rules, for almost all ages, in a variety of different settings, in competitive or cooperative play modes, using a sentence judge or not, with a variety of word chips 100. All versions of this game should be fun, promote interactivity and good communications, and improve word or sentence usage for the participants.

Small talk is a difficult communication skill for people to develop, largely since it is difficult for people to determine what others might be interested in or about what they may wish to converse. Being able to listen attentively and appropriately respond with a related but interesting sentence to others can be challenging; whether the “others” happen to be a spouse, a date, a friend, a business associate, a classmate, an adversary, etc. The art of persuasion, listening, and negotiation often involves considering what another person is saying and responding with information which is topically relevant, sophisticated in vocabulary, and grammatically correct.

Improving conversation abilities would be beneficial to anyone at any level of skill; however, it might be particularly useful for those that either wish to improve their social communication skills, or for those that have difficulty communicating for a variety of reasons such as speech or language problems or a neurological disorder (e.g., with Asperger Syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)). Often those with difficulty speaking, for one reason or other, do better when they are more relaxed but when expectations are clear, such as would likely occur when playing the topical conversational sentence game 90. Those with trouble communicating could use the topical conversational sentence game 90 to further develop their social, communication, vocabulary or sentence structure skills. People (particularly children) who are shy or withdrawn may even become more expressive by playing this game. People learning a second (or even first) language would find it useful in learning suitable word usage, and would likely cause them to use more spontaneous and creative sentences than activities currently used in many language classes. Schools, hospitals (including mental as well as physical), businesses, youth groups, households, language clinics, would be likely scenarios for tools, such as this game, that could improve social, communicative, or sentence structure skills.

For good conversation, the topic of a follow-up sentence should pertain to the same topic as the first sentence. As such, in the topical conversation sentence game 90, each sentence should be related to its predecessor to get suitable points. A number of factors can lead to ineffective communications including non-communicative discussions, talking over others, illogical follow-up sentences, etc., each of which may characterize the speaker as disinterested, inattentive or rude. This applies in all relationships whether the people conversing are couples, parents, teachers, students, business adversaries, political opponents, etc. In each of these situations, effective two-way communications is crucial for understanding, avoiding or solving conflict and building social bonds.

FIG. 1 illustrates the perspective view of one embodiment of the plurality of word chips 100 that can be used to play the topical conversational sentence game 90. The word chips 100 are the only essential playing component of the topical conversational sentence game 90 without which the game cannot be played. Certain embodiments of the topical conversational sentence game 90 challenges its participants in forming topical, syntactically, and grammatically correct conversational sentences.

The topical conversational sentence game 90 can even be played without any rules, or by following rules from a single play rule sheet of Table 1. Since the rules are relatively easy to follow, they could easily be modified or adapted to conform to a variety of situations, for a wide range of abilities and to suit specific types of play. Additionally, rule sheets may become lost or players may not wish to read the rule sheets. As long as players are playing with the same goals, understanding and agreement of the rules and the same level of competition, the game should be enjoyable for and disputes easily settled. Since the same words can be used in a multitude of varied and unique sentences, the same word chips 100 can be used repeatedly without fear of the repetition of previous sentences. Different packets of the word chips 100 can be provided in the same or different languages. Additionally, since each player is constructing their own sentences using their personal vocabulary and sentence structure skills, it is difficult to cheat since scoring relies on language skills and resultant sentence structure. Repeat playing would tend to improve a player's language skills, and playing with others of different skills and language abilities would develop more variation in language type skills, and creativity. Whereas the word-game Scrabble is often played with a dictionary as a reference book, it is envisioned the topical conversational sentence game 90 may be played with a grammar or sentence structure book as a reference book.

The topical conversational sentence game 90 can be very entertaining as well as used as a teaching structure to improve social, conversational, or other speaking behavior. The topical conversational sentence game 90 could benefit those ranging from little skill to experts in the language, as well as a great ice-breaker since it naturally draws everyone involved into the game and provides topics for conversation. The topical conversational sentence game 90 does not require a board or even a flat playing surface (though both could be used), piece holders, or superstructure, such as is common to other board games. The game can be played by laying the word chips 100 flat on a table or other flat surface, etc., or alternately the word chips can be picked directly out of a container such as a canister of FIG. 2 or bag 402 of FIG. 3 having an opening 404 that may provide access to the word chips 100.

Each word chip 100 has a word face 104 and an opposing face 106. The word face 104 has at least one word 108 printed or otherwise formed thereupon. Typically, each topical conversation sentence game 90 can have words ranging from nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. The opposing face 106 can have a logo formed thereupon, or alternately can be left blank. Within each topical conversational sentence game 90, there can be different numbers of word chips 100 with words printed or formed thereupon.

Each sentence is intended to apply to the topic of the immediately preceding topical conversational sentence. Table 1 shows one embodiment of the contents of the rule sheet for one version of the topical conversational sentence game 90, which may go by the name “Chip Chat”.

TABLE 1 Rules of Play for Topical Conversational Sentence Game Chip Chat - Rules of Play A fun, flexible, fast paced, conversation game for all ages 2+ Players Play cooperatively or competitively Contents: One word chip canister (for storage, and word chips may be selected from this during play). 100 word chips (all word chips having different words). Set Up: Empty all word chips from the canister and turn them all face-down (logo side up so the words cannot be seen). Mix the word chips up, and that's it, start playing. Alternately, word chips can be selected directly out of the canister in a random fashion (without seeing the words). If playing competitively, have a pencil and paper available to keep score. Basic Directions: For adult players, all players turn over one word chip and the player whose word is first alphabetically goes first. If playing with children, the youngest goes first. The initial player picks one word chip, shows the word on the word chip to the other players, and then says a sentence out loud that must include the word or phrase on the word chip drawn, and the topic of conversation of the sentence (which could be, but does not have to be, the word from the word chip). The initial player may introduce more than one topic in his/her sentence. The used word chip for each player is then placed in a discard pile (or perhaps put back into the canister). The next player, and each additional player, chooses one word chip per turn, shows the word on the word chip to the other players, and create a sentence using the word or phrase on their word chip. However, their sentence must be related (by topic) to the previous sentence. Each successive player may also introduce a new topic of conversation to their sentence, if they choose. All sentences must be complete sentences (including a noun and verb), and must make conversational sense. Reference books such as grammar books, sentence structure books, etc. may be used to settle disputes as well as better learn grammar and sentence structure in a fun, interactive way. Cooperative Play allows for quicker paced games, since there is no scoring. This kind of play is perfect as a party ice-breaker. Cooperative play may be more fun for some, and can be used to improve communication skills for all. In educational environments, cooperative play can focus on increasing the rate of speech, learning vocabulary, or topic identification and maintenance. For competitive play, a person should be selected as an official judge. In certain instances, such as with couples that “trust” each other, scored competitive play can occur without judges. The judge decides on the correctness of sentences while settling disputes and recording scores, and keeping time for turns (timing is an option). To keep the game moving quickly (in a quasi-conversation manner, marks (e.g., scratch marks or tic marks) should be used to record scores and after play is complete, the scores should be totaled to determine the winner. Basic Scoring for Competitive Play: Correct use of the word or phrase on the drawn word chip = 1 point. Maintaining the topic of the sentence from the previous player = 1 point per topic. Introduction of any new point per topic = 1 point per topic. Basic Scoring Example: The initial player automatically gets two points for a correct sentence (1 for the correct use of a word in a sentence and 1 for introduction of a new topic of conversation). All scoring indicated by tic marks (II). Each subsequent player after the initial player gets one point for correct use of their word in a sentence; one point for maintaining the topic of conversation introduced by the previous player; and 1 point for introducing any additional new topic of conversation. ADVANCED Scoring Options: Correct figurative/slang use of the word on the word chip (not appropriate for all words) = 2 points. Correct use of the word/phrase - more than one meaning in the same sentence = 5 points. Winning The winner is determined by the total number of points earned, either: a) over a predetermined period of time (e.g., 15 minutes), or b) after a predetermined number of turns (e.g., 5 turns per player). Alternate or Extra Game Options: 1) Players must use a variation of the words/phrases on the word chips. dreamy instead of dream. joker instead of joke. confusing instead of confused. 2) Players must select two (or three) word chips per turn and use all of the words selected in their sentence. 3) Players must include a rhyme in their sentence. 4) Players must identify the part of speech of their word being used (e.g., noun, adjective, verb, adverb, interjection) - phrases would have to be omitted for this variation. 5) Turns may be timed (10 seconds for advanced, 30 seconds for less advanced). 6) For second-language skills, all sentences have to be spoken in the second language.

During playing certain embodiments of the topical conversational sentence game, as many as desired or all of the word chips 100 as are described are positioned face down on a table or flat surface. Each player picks their respective word chips 100 and thereupon attempts to construct a relevant topical conversational sentence using the word thereupon. Because both simple and complex sentences can be formed including the same words, the same word list can be utilized by players of different ages and skill levels.

Table 1 is a sample rule sheet for one embodiment of the topical conversational sentence game 90. There can be variations with rules for virtually any game, and the topical conversational sentence game is no exception. For example, the rules can be modified by requiring variations of the words of phases on the word chips 100. Alternately, players could be required to use two or three word chips 100 per turn. Still yet, players may be required to use a rhyme in their sentences. The game can be made as simple or complex as desired or appropriate. To further assist with grammar, the player can be required to tell what part of speech their word is (e.g., a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, interjection, etc.). The topical conversational sentence game 90 can have allotted times for each turn (e.g., 10 seconds for advanced, 30 seconds less advanced).

Now, a progression illustrating sample sentences that may be used when sample words are selected are illustrated, with scoring as per each sentence provided during each turn. For illustrative purposes, three turns are shown with three players playing.

Turn 1

Player 1—Draws a chip that reads SILLY and uses it in the sentence: “My brother was acting SILLY today.” Score=2 points [1 for the correct use of the drawn word (SILLY) and 1 for the introduction of a new topic (my brother)]

Player 2—Draws a chip that reads PENGUIN and uses it in the sentence: “Well my little brother was acting like a PENGUIN today, now that's SILLY!” Score=3 points [1 point for the correct use of the word (PENGUIN), 1 point for maintenance of the previous topic (my brother), and 1 point for the re-use of the word from player 1 (SILLY)]

Player 3—Draws a chip that reads SPINACH and uses it in the sentence: “I think PENGUINS are SILLY, they don't even like SPINACH!” Score=4 points [1 point for the correct use of the drawn word (SPINACH), 2 points for re-using the previous players drawn words (PENGUIN and SILLY), and 1 point for the introduction of/smooth transition to a new topic (PENGUIN is now the new topic)] Note that this player did not maintain the previous topic (brother) so does not receive a point for topic maintenance.

Turn 2

Player 1—Draws a chip that reads TRICKY and uses it in the sentence: “I think PENGUINS only do TRICKS to get fish.” Score=2 points [1 point for the maintenance of the topic (PENGUIN), 1 point for the re-use of the word PENGUIN.] The player does not receive the point for his/her own drawn word because he/she used the word TRICKS instead of the word TRICKY and that variation of the word has an entirely different meaning—TRICKS is a plural noun, TRICKY is an adjective.

Player 2—Draws a chip that reads GROSS and uses it in the sentence: “Fish is GROSS!” Score=2 points [1 for the use of the drawn word (GROSS) and one for the introduction of a new topic (fish as a food)]

Player 3—Draws a chip that reads PIZZA and uses it in the sentence: “Fish is GROSS, but some people even eat it on PIZZA!” Score=3[1 for the correct use of the drawn word PIZZA, 1 for the re-use of GROSS, 1 for the maintenance of the topic of food and/or fish.]

Turn 3

Player 1—Draws a chip that reads BRILLIANT and uses it in the sentence: “Fish on pizza may be GROSS, but I think whoever invented PIZZA was BRILLIANT; what inventions do you think are BRILLIANT?” Score=6[2 points for each correct use of the drawn word BRILLIANT, 1 for the reuse of PIZZA, 1 point for the reuse of GROSS, 1 point for continuing the topic of food, and 1 for the introduction of a new topic (inventions).]

Player 2—Draws a chip that reads ANSWER and uses it in the sentence: “Well, my ANSWER might surprise you, but I think the invention of the ball point pen was BRILLIANT; before that, people had ink wells and writing was very messy.” Score=3[1 point for the use of their drawn word ANSWER, 1 for the reuse of BRILLIANT, and 1 for the topic maintenance (inventions)]

Player 3—Draws a chip that reads CRAZE and uses it in the sentence: “Writing might have been messy, but ink wells were fun mischief for many boys who dipped girls' pigtails in them; that prank was quite a CRAZE!” Score=2[1 point for the correct use of the drawn word CRAZE, and 1 point for the introduction of a new topic (pranks/crazes)].

Score after 3 rounds: Player 1=10 points; Player 2=8 points; Player 3=9 points. If the game ended after the 3rd turn, then player #1 would be the winner.

There are a thus a variety of words 108 that may be selected (randomly by successive players) in the topical conversational sentence game 90. In the electronic version of the topical conversational sentence game, a variety of words may be selected. Illustrative topical conversational sentences can be constructed from the sample words 108 selected, as well as illustrative scoring of such illustrative topical conversational sentences. The scoring may be provided by judges in competitive versions of the topical conversational sentence game 90. Such judges may be players alternating turns as players (which means three players would be required to play instead of the minimum two players); or alternately particularly for very competitive games, the judges might be non-playing, skilled in sentence structure and the game rules, and hopefully impartial and agreed upon to be non-biased in their scoring.

During playing the topical conversational sentence game 90, the at least one word 108 is used by a player based on selecting one word chips 100. The at least one word 108 of the selected word chip 100 is thereupon used to form a topical conversational sentences including their successive word 108. The goal of each player is to generate series of topical conversational sentences by successive players including their successive words 108.

The topical conversational sentence game 90 can be played for pleasure or entertainment, competitively by using a sentence judge which could be a player alternated between rounds; or even in an educational environment such as a language (mother tongue or second language) classroom. The winner can be determined based on the total number of points earned after playing for a given time or alternately after each player plays a prescribed number of turns.

The topical conversational sentence game 90 can be stored in a relatively small and light container 300 such as a canister or bag (see FIGS. 2 and 3), and as such can be easily stored, played, or transported within a relatively small base as compared to most game boards. The container 300 can be thrown into a backpack or onto a boat, for example. That container 300 should be configured such that the game can be played by each user picking up word chips 100 out of the container 300. As shown in FIG. 2, the container 300 can take the form of a canister 302, similar to a “Pringle” potato chip container except likely truncated. The container 300 may or may not be used during the playing of the game, but should be resealed such as to store the components in a pleasing and identifiable manner.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the container 300 in the form of a bag or sack that can contain the word chips during storage or even playing. The different embodiments of the containers 300, as described with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3, should be considered as illustrative in nature and not limiting in scope. At its best, the container should make the game appear interesting, take up as little space as possible, and allow for players to play the game by selecting the word chips 100 from the container if not being picked from off the table, etc. As such, certain embodiments of the topical conversational sentence game 90 can be played by passing the container 300 to others in a car, in a classroom or other room, or even outdoors. As such, the topical conversational sentence game 90 is relatively easy to transport and is not limited to where board game surfaces can be situated. Most of all, all versions of the game should be fun, challenging, and assist its players in learning language, interaction, and communication skills.

FIG. 4 illustrates a list of certain words that can be used in one embodiment of the topical conversational sentence game 90. Different word sets may be used for different types of games, such as high vocabulary games, games for certain ages, games for certain topics (suggestive, comedic, location, etc.).

Electronic/Computer Version of Topical Conversation Sentence Game

While the above disclosure describes a traditional version of the topical conversational sentence game, FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of an electronic embodiment of the topical conversational sentence game 90. FIG. 6 shows a sample flow diagram that can be performed on the electronic embodiment of the topical conversational sentence game of FIG. 5. FIGS. 7 and 8 show different graphical user interface (GUI) type displays that may be utilized in the electronic version of the topical conversational sentence game 90. The above traditional version of the topical conversation sentence game 90 is useful to improve communications, provide personal interaction, and improve sentence structure and usage. It is envisioned that the electronic/computer version of the topical conversational sentence game 90 could provide many of the same benefits, except in an electronic or computer-based format. The electronic/computer version of the topical conversational sentence game 90 could be played strikingly similarly to the manual version and following the same rules of play as outlined in TABLE 1 (including human judges for competitive play). Alternately, certain electronic/computer version of the topical conversational sentence game 90 could integrate many of the judging, sentence evaluation, word generation, speech recognition, and other functions into mechanisms that exist in many current generation computers and electronic games. In actuality many, if not most, successful traditional games will eventually evolve into electronic/computer games (sooner rather than later in today's world).

In addition, the electronic/computer version of the topical conversational sentence game 90 could greatly assist educational programs, schools, clubs, groups, etc. in providing a fun and interactive game that can be played in groups (with the traditional or electronic/computer version) or even alone against a computer-based opponent with the electronic/computer version. While many electronic or computer-based games are not particularly social or interactive, except perhaps with a joystick or other device, the electronic/computer version of the topical conversational sentence game 90 is fully interactive and requires its participants to return meaningful sentences. Additionally, and the more someone plays the game, the more improvement they will likely see in vocabulary, sentence construction, etc. Expansion word sets are likely to be produced. The expansion sets of topical conversational sentence game 90 may include languages other than English, sets that focus on particular vocations or hobbies (legal, medical, etc.), sets containing more sophisticated vocabulary for college preparation, sets that are aimed at words that may be used figuratively as well as literally, or sets created for use with younger players, or adult versions with controversial or suggestive words or phrases. Alternately, an electronic/computer version of the topical conversational sentence game 90 can be configured such that users can select or input their own words.

There can be a wide variety of hardware, software, and/or firmware embodiments of the electronic/computer version of the topical conversational sentence game 90. To generalize the computer or electronic structure of the game, certain embodiments of the topical conversational sentence game 90 can include depending on context, a processor 803 such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory 807, a circuit or circuit portion 809, and an input output interface (I/O) 811 that may include a bus (not shown). Certain embodiments of the topical conversational sentence game 90 can include and/or be played on a portion of a general-purpose computer, a specific-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a cell phone or smart phone, a discrete plug and play unit, a tablet computer (slate or other), a wireless communicating device, a hard-wired communication device, and/or any other known suitable type of communications device or phone, computer, and/or controller that can run over the internet or a web-based program such as can be implemented in hardware, software, electromechanical devices, and/or firmware.

Certain embodiments of the processor 803, as described with respect to FIG. 5, can perform the processing and arithmetic operations, speech recognition, sentence judging, scoring, sentence evaluation, and other such operations for certain embodiments of the controller 97 of the topical conversational sentence game 90. Certain embodiments of the controller 97 of the topical conversational sentence game 90 can control the signal processing, database querying and response, computational, timing, data transfer, and other processes associated with certain embodiments of the controller 97 of the topical conversational sentence game 90.

Certain embodiments of the controller 97 of the topical conversational sentence game 90 will undergo considerable data or signal processing by the processor 803. As such, certain embodiments of the components of the controller 97 should be designed and configured to handle the type of data, image, and/or provided information processing that will be applicable.

Certain embodiments of the memory 807 of the controller 97 can include a random access memory (RAM) and/or read only memory (ROM) that together can store the computer programs, operands, and other parameters that control the operation of certain embodiments of the controller 97 of the topical conversational sentence game 90. The memory 807 can be configurable to contain sentence and word data, information, images, etc. that can be obtained, retained, or captured by that particular controller 97. The words that are selected can be generated from a fixed set of words such as from about 75 to 200 words as in the traditional topical conversational sentence game 90, or a broader set of words, using a random word generator. In general, the words that are generated should include a solid mix of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and other types, such as illustrated in FIG. 4. Certain embodiments of the topical conversational sentence game 90 can include words or sentence structure from different languages. Wherein with the competitive manual embodiment of the topical conversational sentence game 90 can be played with two or more players with a devoted judge, competitive electronic/computer embodiments of the topical conversational sentence game 90 can integrate a sentence structure or scoring judge (whether the judge is software-based or at higher levels an actual human judge).

In this disclosure, the memory 807 can be configurable as RAM, flash memory, semiconductor-based memory, of any other type of memory that can be configurable to store data pertaining to depth visualizations, images, and/or provided information. Certain embodiments of the bus can also connects I/O 811 to the portions of certain embodiments of the controller 97 of either the topical conversational sentence game 90 that can either receive digital information from, or transmit digital information to other portions, or other systems and/or networking components associated therewith.

In certain embodiments, a secondary communication link can be established between the certain embodiments of the controller 97 of the topical conversational sentence game 90. The secondary communication link can be structured similar to as a communication link, or alternatively can utilize network-based computer connections, Internet connections, web-based connections, etc. to provide information and/or data transfer between certain embodiments of the controller 97 of the topical conversational sentence game 90.

In certain embodiments, the I/O 811 provides an interface to control the transmissions of digital information between each of the components in certain embodiments of the controller 97 of the topical conversational sentence game 90. The I/O 811 also provides an interface between the components of certain embodiments of the controller 97 of the topical conversational sentence game 90. The circuits 809 can include such other user interface devices as a display, speech recognition program, and/or a keyboard. In other embodiments, the 97 of the topical conversational sentence game 90 can be constructed as a specific-purpose computer such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, a microcomputer, or other similar devices.

Within the disclosure, flow charts of FIG. 6 of the type described in this disclosure apply to method steps as performed by a computer or controller as could be contained within certain electronic or computer-based embodiments of the topical conversational sentence game 90, as described in this disclosure. Additionally, the flow charts as described in this disclosure apply operations or procedures that can be performed entirely and/or largely utilizing mechanical devices, electromechanical devices, or the like, such as certain embodiments of the topical conversational sentence game 90 as described in this disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a topical conversational sentence game technique 600 such as described with respect to, but not limited to, the topical conversational sentence game 90 of FIG. 5, and elsewhere in this disclosure. Certain embodiments of a high-level flowchart of the topical conversational sentence game technique 600 can include, but is not limited to, operations 602, 604, and 606. Certain embodiments of operation 602 can include, but is not limited to, generating at least one word for each turn for each successive player. For example, certain embodiments of the topical conversational sentence game 90 as described through this disclosure can be configured to use software to provide a random word generation that can be contained either within the general or specific purpose computer or electronic device; or alternately supplied over the Internet, an intranet, or a web-based service provider. The words such as illustrated in FIG. 2 can be maintained on a database in groups, and such groups may be selected by users as desired.

Certain embodiments of operation 604 can include, but is not limited to, each player completing a sentence including the at least one word, wherein the sentence is topical with a sentences completed by a subsequent player. Certain electronic or computer-based embodiments of the topical conversational sentence game 90 can display each sentence generated during play by the different players. As such, each player will see the word generated for them as well as the last sentence. Each player can input their sentence either verbally using speech recognition programs, or manually such as by inputting or typing the sentence. This also provides for the potential for single player games.

Certain embodiments of optional operation 606 can include, but is not limited to, evaluating the sentence based on it being topical with a prior sentence, and also including the at least one generated word. The evaluation may be for one or more sentence characteristics, and may be scored either by using a program, such or based on input from players or judges. For example, for certain electronic or computer-based embodiments of the topical conversational sentence game 90, the sentence can be evaluated either using the players or a human judge (as with the manual embodiment of the game), or alternately evaluating using suitable sentence grammar programs running on general or specific purpose computer or electronic devices; or alternately supplied over the Internet, an intranet, or a web-based service provider. In non-competitive versions of the game, the evaluation may be taken less seriously or may even be provided by the other player (e.g., commenting that the sentence is improper). As the game continues, each of steps 602, 602, and 606 can be repeated for each subsequent player with certain embodiments of the topical conversational sentence game 90.

FIG. 7 shows one embodiment of a graphical user interface (GUI) or display 610 such as may display the output of the electronic version of the topical conversational sentence game 90, in which the GUI 610 illustrates the randomly generated word 108, which is used by each subsequent player in generating the sentence. A timer 614 is included which may indicate the time each player has.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the display or GUI 610 which illustrates the word 108, as well as the prior sentence 702 in which the word is meant to be used as well as perhaps the generated sentence 704, whose input may be provided by typing or speech recognition program. With certain embodiments of the electronic version of the topical conversational sentence game 90, the score may be calculated according to the rules in the calculated score portion 706.

While the above shows a number of embodiments of the topical conversational sentence game 90, slight modifications can be provided while remaining within the intended scope of the present invention as limited according to the language of the claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A topical conversational sentence game, comprising: at least one word chip, each of the at least one word chip having a word face and an opposing face, the word face having at least one word printed thereupon, wherein during play of the topical conversational sentence game, the word is used by a player selecting that word chip to generate a sentence including the word, and wherein each sentence relates to a topic of any immediately preceding sentence.
 2. The topical conversational sentence game of claim 1, wherein at the beginning of play, each of the at least one word on the at least one word chips are positioned face down on a surface.
 3. The topical conversational sentence game of claim 2, wherein during playing, each successive player picks up one of the at least one word chips.
 4. The topical conversational sentence game of claim 1, further comprising a container in which to store all of the at least one word chips are contained during storage.
 5. The topical conversational sentence game of claim 4, wherein the container comprises a canister.
 6. The topical conversational sentence game of claim 4, wherein the container comprises a bag.
 7. A topical conversational sentence game method, comprising: providing at least one word on at least one word chip; and at least two players who sequentially select each of the at least one word chip that contains the at least one word, wherein each of the at least two players generate a sentence including the at least one word, and when a topic of each sentence following the first sentence is the same as the topic of each processor sentence.
 8. The topical conversational sentence game method of claim 7, that is played cooperatively between at least two of the at least one player.
 9. The topical conversational sentence game method of claim 7, that is played competitively between at least two of the at least one player.
 10. The topical conversational sentence game method of claim 7, further comprising a scoring method.
 11. The topical conversational sentence game method of claim 7 that is used as a conversational teaching method.
 12. The topical conversational sentence game method of claim 7 that is used as a sentence structure teaching tool.
 13. A method of playing an electronic topical conversational sentence game, comprising: generate at least one word for each turn for each successive player; and complete a sentence including the at least one word, wherein the sentence is topical with a sentence generated by a previous player.
 14. The method of playing an electronic topical conversational sentence game of claim 14, further comprising evaluating the completed sentence based on it being topically related to the sentence generated by the previous player. 